Cadet freestyle finals set for Monday afternoon in Fargo

FARGO, N.D. -- Championship finals as well as consolation medal matches were determined early on Sunday evening at the Fargodome in North Dakota for the Cadet National freestyle tournament. These matches will be wrestled on Monday afternoon starting at 1:30 p.m. CT.

88: Chance Lamer (Oregon) vs. Drake Ayala (Iowa)
Ranked No. 3 overall among Junior High wrestlers, Lamer is after the second leg of a Cadet Triple Crown having won the folkstyle title in this weight class during the spring. He also was runner-up at the UWW Cadet Nationals last month, a tournament in which he beat Ayala 17-6 along the way. Ayala was fifth in that tournament, while also placing third in Cadet folkstyle, losing 12-3 to Lamer in the semifinal round.

94: Jett Strickenberger (Colorado) vs. Carter Young (Oklahoma)
Strickenberger is ranked No. 17 overall in the Class of 2020, having placed third at 42 kilos in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals. He advanced to the finals with an 8-6 semifinal win over fellow ranked incoming freshman Cooper Flynn (Tennessee). Young has four technical falls from four matches in this tournament

100: Andrew Chambal (Michigan) vs. Dylan Ragusin (Illinois)
This is a battle of wrestlers who placed third last year in Cadet freestyle, Chambal at 88 pounds, Ragusin at 94. Chambal also finished as runner-up in Greco-Roman and placed third at state as a freshman. Ragusin is ranked No. 45 overall in the Class of 2020, having finished third at 46 kilos in last month's UWW Cadet freestyle competition, after having earned the world team spot in Greco-Roman; he also was a state runner-up in high school this year.

106: Zeke Escalera (Kentucky) vs. Matthew Ramos (Illinois)
Ranked No. 21 overall in the Class of 2021, Escalera was a high school state champion this past season. His run to the final includes an 18-13 win over the No. 11 ranked rising freshman and then a 9-7 semifinal win over returning Cadet freestyle champion Cullan Schriever (Iowa). Ramos placed fifth at state in Illinois' big-school division this past season, and last spring/summer earned All-American honors in freestyle at both the UWW Cadet Nationals and Cadet Nationals.

113: Nick Masters (Georgia) vs. Noah Surtin (Illinois)
As projected heading into the tournament, this weight produced the least heralded final of the "core" Cadet freestyle weight classes. Masters, state champion as a freshman, had notable wins over UWW Cadet freestyle All-American Hunter Lewis (Wisconsin) and returning Cadet freestyle All-American Anthony Clark (New Jersey) during his tournament. State medalist Surtin is seeking the second leg of his Cadet Triple Crown, having won the folkstyle title, and also placed sixth at 50 kilos in freestyle at last month's UWW Cadet freestyle tournament.

120: Ryan Sokol (Minnesota) vs. Dominick Serrano (Colorado)
Two-time state placer Sokol is ranked No. 3 overall in the Class of 2021. In his five contested matches this tournament, he has two victories by technical fall and three by pin; that includes a 20-7 win over Trevor Mastrogiovanni (New Jersey), third at UWW Cadet freestyle in the semifinal. Ranked No. 17 overall in the Class of 2020, Serrano has three technical falls and one pin among his five match victories in the tournament; he was a state champion this past high school season.

126: Joshua Saunders (Missouri) vs. Ryan Franco (California)
Ranked No. 7 in the Class of 2020, Saunders placed fourth at the UWW Cadet freestyle nationals last month in the 58 kilo weight class; the high school state champion has six technical fall victories in six matches, and has given up all of one point so far in the tournament. Cadet folkstyle runner-up Franco is ranked No. 8 nationally among the incoming freshman Class of 2021.

132: Carson Manville (Minnesota) vs. Aidan Medora (Wisconsin)
Manville is ranked No. 1 overall in the Class of 2021, and was a high school state champion this past season. He has six technical fall victories from six matches, giving up only three points, all of those during his semifinal win over state placer Alex Mosconi (Indiana). Though not ranked in the Class of 2020, the high school state runner-up Medora has been excellent in this tournament with wins over three of the All-American finishers; 10-6 over state medalist Chumbley, 3-0 over nationally ranked incoming freshman Voinovich, and then 12-1 in the semis over nationally ranked Class of 2020 Tal-Shahar.

138: Kevon Davenport (Michigan) vs. Fidel Mayora (Illinois)
This match features a pair of UWW Cadet freestyle All-Americans at 63 kilos, though they did not compete head-on during the tournament; Davenport was fourth and Mayora seventh. Davenport is a two-time state champion and ranked No. 27 overall in the Class of 2019, having also placed fifth in Cadet freestyle last year; while Mayora placed third at state and is ranked No. 13 in the Class of 2020, having also earned All-American honors in Cadet Greco-Roman last year.

145: Alex Facundo (Michigan) vs. Michael Weber (Montana)
This matchup features a pair of Cadet folkstyle champions, Facundo winning at 138 and Weber in this weight class. Ranked No. 5 in the Class of 2021, Facundo had four shutout technical fall victories prior to an 8-4 win over Jace Luchau (California), Cadet folkstyle runner-up up a weight class. Ranked No. 24 in the Class of 2019, Weber has four technical falls and a pin among his six match victories this tournament.

152: Aaron Gandara (Arizona) vs. Carter Starocci (Pennsylvania)
Gandara is in the hunt for the second leg to a Cadet Triple Crown, having won the folkstyle title in early April. Ranked No. 16 overall in the Class of 2020, he flipped a 12-10 loss from Cadet Duals to Nevan Snodgrass with a 7-6 semifinal victory. Ranked No. 20 in the Class of 2019, UWW Cadet freestyle All-American Starocci had four shutout technical fall victories in his first four bouts prior to an 8-2 semifinal victory; Starocci is also a two-time state placer, including his runner-up finish this past March.

160:David Key (Georgia) vs. Robert Kanniard (New Jersey)
This is a battle of rising juniors, with Key winning a state title this past high school season and Kanniard placing fourth in a weight where the top three all ended the season weight-class ranked. Key advanced to the finals with four technical falls and a 9-8 win over No. 19 overall Class of 2020 wrestler David Ferrante, while Kanniard has four technical falls among five match victories.

170: A.J. Ferrari (Texas) vs. Abe Assad (Illinois)
Ferrari is ranked No. 3 overall in the Class of 2020, and has arguably faced one of the toughest paths to the finals of any wrestler in this tournament. Wins include those over two-time state runner-up Troy Fisher (Kansas) and state champion Sam Fisher (Virginia) prior to a 5-4 quarterfinal victory over No. 5 overall Class of 2020 wrestler Patrick Kennedy (Minnesota) in arguably the match of the tournament; he then beat Gerrit Nijenhuis (Pennsylvania) 8-3 in the semifinal, who is ranked No. 11 overall in the Class of 2020. Returning Cadet freestyle All-American Assad is onto the final with most notable wins coming against state champions Julian Broderson (Iowa) and Talen Borrer (Oklahoma).

182: Devin Winston (Missouri) vs. Jake Logan (New York)
Ranked No. 42 overall in the Class of 2019, Winston has advanced to the final with five technical fall victories from five bouts in the tournament; he also was a state champion and UWW Cadet freestyle All-American earlier this year. State medalist Logan is a returning Cadet All-American in both styles, and has yet to give up a point in the whole tournament.

195: Matthew Cover (Ohio) vs. Ashton Sharp (Missouri)
Cover had three shutout technical falls to reach the quarterfinal, where he won 12-11, and then it was a 4-2 semifinal victory over returning Cadet freestyle All-American Santos Cantu (Oregon). Ranked No. 50 overall in the Class of 2020, Sharp placed third at state and is on the Cadet World Team in Greco-Roman at 85 kilos; he was also champion in Cadet folkstyle during the spring.

220: Braxton Amos (West Virginia) vs. Luke Luffman (Illinois)
Returning Cadet National double champion Amos is ranked No. 4 overall in the Class of 2020. He has ransacked his way through the tournament with five technical falls from five matches, only giving up two points in a solitary match. He faces state champion Luffman, who is ranked No. 43 in the Class of 2019 after a third place finish at the UWW Cadet Nationals in the 96 kilo weight class. It should be noted that Amos missed the entire 2016-17 high school season due to injury sustained in the early fall.

285: Nash Hutmacher (South Dakota) vs. Louden Haga (Ohio)
State champion as a freshman this past season, Hutmacher has four shutout technical fall victories in four matches this tournament, including one in the semifinals over returning Cadet freestyle All-American Eli Pokorney (Indiana). Haga is a two-time state runner-up in West Virginia.